Harvey Milk - Special Wishes (Live)

October 27, 2006; 9 tracks

Here the Athens, Georgia-based sludge band Harvey Milk play through their 2006 album Special Wishes at the Drunken Unicorn in Atlanta, GA. I haven't heard the original album, but this live album is full of crushing tracks that hook you in almost immediately. My personal favorite would have to be "War," it being just so damn catchy, but many tracks here lend themselves to a deluge of heaviness and earthmoving brilliance. For a while now I've admired their 1996 album Courtesy and Good Will Toward Men, a milestone in this experimental / sludge genre. There is something about their guitar sound which blends southern drone with a Boris-esque dread, completely inundated with mystery, and the utterly spine-tingling voice of Creston Spiers, reminiscent of Jandek and Cohen, that innately draw me to them. It is said of Creston that he would only do Cohen covers if he could, and I don't think that would be a bad idea. On Courtesy they did an incredible cover of "One of Us Cannot Be Wrong," I can't remember if I've already mentioned that in an earlier post or not, but listen to it right now if you haven't already. Live albums are always spontaneously alive and awe-inspiring, and this is no exception!

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Einstürzende Neubauten - 09-15-2000, Brussels

2002; 22 tracks

I used to really dislike live albums for some odd reason, but after hearing Coil's ...And the Ambulance Died In Their Arms, I knew that live albums were really amazing. As my friend put it, they are "intimate snapshots into a moment in time that cannot be recreated." Many things go into a live performance, sometimes things that didn't exist during a recording session, so the effects are always interesting, varied, and unique. This record of performances, I feel, is one of the closest and most intimate looks at Einstürzende Neubauten.

After giving 9-15-2000, Brussels a few good listens, I might say that this is one of (if not my absolute) favorite Einstürzende Neubauten album(s). It is a live performance of the band in Brussels, Belgium (duh), and it features songs from various other EN albums. I really love this version of "Der Schacht von Babel," originally on their album Ende Neu. I highly recommend this live album to fans of the group who wish to get a closer look at the people behind the amazing music.


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+ Tracks 5 and 10.